This painting was done sometime between 1950-1969 by a woman named Harriet Hurd. The mountain in this painting is one of several which make up the valley in which we live. This style of painting is called "plein air". Thats fancy French for "in the open air". (I promise to limit my use of quotation marks from now on. Those and exclamation points. Eeesh.) I could stare at it forever, wondering just what the people in the little houses are doing. Or, in reality, I could just take a hike, knock on their doors and ask.
When driving off our property, I often think it's like being in a living plein air painting. The light is so beautiful, the colors of the hills and the shape of the trees in all of their imperfection really make me grateful that there is a place in our world that has been left alone. For a few years now, at least.
Before the past decade or so, our area was farmed and ranched. In fact, there were cows at the entrance to our neighborhood and cucumbers in the open fields when we moved in. Now, it all seems like it has been frozen in time. Nobody farming the area, no more cows. There are many different views on this type of situation. I used to be in the camp of YEAH MORE OPEN SPACE! (sorry about the !, I was really feeling it, but you can thank me for not using quotation marks later). Then the reality of living next to a designated wildlife corridor/open space/fish & game preserve set in. Evidently there are lots of animals, plants and artifacts that need to be counted, so no one is allowed in. For about the next 25 years, according to one state employee. Now I just wish it was beautiful productive land again with cucumbers and cows on it. Now that would be really cool to come home to.
No comments:
Post a Comment